New skipper Davey Watt insists he will feel no extra pressure at leading Eastbourne Eagles into their most challenging season for years.

That is despite the fact he is filling the roles of captain and team No. 1 for the first time in his Elite League career.

Watt is top man for a new-look Eagles line-up as he starts his third separate stint on loan from parent club Poole.

It is a team with potential but with question marks too.

Will David Norris be the force of old as he returns from a season-and-a-half out through injury?

Will their four younger riders fulfil undoubted potential on a regular basis?

And can recent signing Lukas Dryml make a successful transition from big track specialist to the tighter confines of 275-metre Arlington, a circuit whose tricky reputation goes before it?

It promises to be an intriguing season, especially with Russian champion Denis Gizatullin also signed up and ready to come in should things go wrong.

Whisper it in the vicinity of proud promoter Bob Dugard but there are those who follow speedway who feel Eastbourne, having lost top three Scott Nicholls, Lee Richardson and Edward Kennett, might not set the Elite League alight this season.

Watt, though, is having none of it after seeing his side in action as individuals at last Sunday’s Dean Barker Farewell, in which he came second to classy Hans Andersen and Lewis Bridger was fourth.

“It’s premature to be writing us off, that’s for damn sure,” Watt said.

“I was watching the boys on Sunday and I’m very impressed.

“I was talking to Lukas all day. He was having some trouble and feels he is not going as well as he wants to go but he is very enthusiastic about doing better.

“David Norris came out of retirement and won his first race and looked really good.

“Simon Gustafsson, I thought, was fantastic. Cameron Woodward is riding well. You don’t make moves like he did in his fourth heat without going well.

“Lewis is clearly up for it. I’m happy with all the boys.”

So how about this double leadership role?

“I have got a reputation and personality for helping younger fellows out anyway so being a captain is no real change for me,” he said.

“I’m really good mates with Cameron and we talk a lot about set-ups and speedway in general. They are all good boys and always open for suggestions as to how to get better.

“Every one of them wants to get better and that’s what counts for me.”

There has to be some pressure, though, as he succeeds Nicki Pedersen and Scott Nicholls as Eagles’ top-average rider.

“I put far more pressure on myself than anybody else could,” he responds.

“I think everybody expects me to go out and score a whole bunch of points anyway, whether I’m captain or No. 1 or whatever.

“Every time I get on the bike I want to win. I don’t need to be told that other people want me to win.”

The points average limit, set low at 39.90 this season, is something of an unfathomable concept for fans of sports other than speedway although, in some respects, it works like a salary cap.

It means champion teams tend to be broken up and sides start each campaign on something resembling a level playing field.

Something has to give somewhere and, what Eastbourne lose in not having a top-line world star, they gain in depth.

Simon Gustafsson and Ricky Kling could be the best reserve pairing in the league and Bridger and Woodward have ample potential to increase their averages.

Norris, too, will be a bargain if he regains his old form and maintains it through a gruelling season.

This Eastbourne team looks like it could shock a few people, with Dryml giving them an extra dimension on big away tracks, though the nature of many of the riders suggests they will suffer peaks and troughs of form.

Sunday’s fixture is speedway’s equivalent of football’s Community Shield, with Eastbourne having qualified as cup winners last season.

Then follows a cup derby with Lakeside a week on Saturday with the league campaign at Arlington not getting under way until Belle Vue visit on April 4.

Watt reckons this first home meeting will be interesting.

He said: “It doesn’t mean anything league-wise but it’s Poole and it’s racing. Every race is a race worth winning as far as I’m concerned.

“Last Sunday I was trying a few bits and pieces and different bikes but I still wanted to win as many races as I could.

“I’m not far away. It’s not as if I have bikes that are unknown.”

For Eastbourne as a team, though, this season does represent something of a trip into the unknown.

Some of Dugard’s associates have backed them for the title at 33/1.

Don’t expect them to cash in. But do expect an entertaining season.